Hook and eye.



, HOOK AND EYE. .APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 3 1997. RENEWED NOV. 21, 1908 Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

WH moan cmcaizuw aw IINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM M. OORTHELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO F. M. WATERMAN OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

HOOK AND EYE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 12, 1909.

Application filed August 3, 1907, Serial No. 386,953. Renewed November 21, 1908. Serial No. 63,889.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM M. COR- THELL, a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hooks and Eyes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to hooks and eyes ordinarily made of wire, such as are commonly used in securing together parts of garments. Its objects are to secure several advantages in a simple and economical construction, among which are security against unhooking, avoidance of wear of the goods, a wide spread fastening to the goods to secure a strong hold, and facility of operation in hooking and unhooking.

The invention consists in the construction hereinafter described and particularly pointed out.

In the accompanying drawing which forms a part of the specification,Figure l is a plan of the hook and eye shown disconnected; Fig. 2 is a side view of the same and showing the hook in broken lines connected to the eye; Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively plan and side views of modified hook and eye; Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views of modified forms; Figs. 7 and 8 are similar views of other modified forms.

Numeral 1 denotes an eye having threadreceiving loops 2 offset at 3 from the sides 4.

5 indicates the hookengaging end of the eye which is bent at approximately right angles to the sides, and may be called the drop of the eye. In use it extends below the main part of the eye a distance about equal to the diameter of the wire of which the article is made, and in use holds the goods at that point away from the sides 4: of the eye thus facilitating the attachment of the hook to be described without wearing the goods, which latter is in many cases a serious defect in prior devices in which the eye is held in contact with the goods, which must be pushed away by a wearing contact of the point of the hook. In some cases thread-holding bends 6 at the outer ends of sides 4 of the eye, or of the hook, can be interposed between the ends of said sides and the loops 2, as shown in Fig. 3.

7 denotes a hook having thread-receiving loops 2 and sides 4, constituting the hook shank, and an eye-engaging end or head 8. Preferably the sides of the hook will be curved and spread or flared, as shown in Fig. l, to insure greater distance between the loops and a consequent secure attachment to the goods, but principally to provide in connection the narrow neck at 7 and a stop as at 7*, for the drop 5. This however is not essential in all cases though important and generally preferred. The eye-engaging end or head 8 is formed by bending the wire substantially as represented, said extended and parallel parts of wire being in contact with each other and in the same plane as the hook shank loops. To engage this hook with the eye when both are secured to a garment or the like, the goods and hook will be manipulated to engage one end 9 of the head 8 between the sides 4: of the eye, and below said sides, and then pushing under the opposite end. This requires a slight bending of the goods which must occur before the hook is released, an operation that will not occur accidentally, the engagement of the hook and eye being thus made secure.

A further security against accidental unhooking is provided in that the drop end of the eye abuts against the wires a or the loops 2 of the hook when the latter is moved inwardly in the general plane of the engaged hook and eye so that it is necessary to putthe hook and eye in different planes approximately at right angles to each other before the head of the hook can be pushed back of the eye, or back into the bends 6 of the eye in case the form having such bends be used. The flare and curvature substantially such as indicated at 7 provide a stop for the eye as above set forth so that each member of the connection is estopped from moving in their common plane sufiiciently far to unhook thus insuring against accidental disengagement. The construction including the offsets 3 and the spread at 7 provides for a separation between the loops and their points of attachment whereby they are more securely attached to a fabric. Ob viously the flare 7 can be effected by an incline outwardly from the head 8 whether curved or not. It will be understood that bringing the wires close together at 7 to provide a narrow neck at that point facilitates the introduction of the head into the eye since it provides that the head can be pushed down endwise between the side members of the eye and under one of them approximately half its length preparatory to inserting the other end under the opposite side member of the eye.

The construction however permits a more direct and in some cases a preferable mode of engagement by inserting head 8 under the sides at their rear, which operation is facilitated by the oflsets by which the loops are removed from the path of the head. In this mode of engaging the parts the book may be moved over the eye in a plane parallel thereto and its head then dropped back of the eye sides 4 below the level of said sides, and then drawn forward into engagement with the part- 5 that joins the eye sides.

It is obvious that without change of structure the eye could be turned so that its socalled drop or side connecting-part 5 would be directed away from the goods to which it is attached. In such case the head could be pushed between the goods and the eye in lines practically parallel to each until it is passed back of tlie sides, whereupon a slight movement of the head to a plane above the sides would permit it to be drawn forward in contact with said sides to engage part 5. Either of the three methods described of connecting the hook and eye would avoid the wear of fine goods often caused by the point of the hook in the use of old fashioned hooks and eyes. I am aware of 7 other hooks and eyes designed to avoid this evil but not by my construction, which not only provides for the three methods of coupling set forth but secures other advantages in connection therewith. One of these is the stop for a hook and eye movement toward disengagement or unhooking which is provided by the flaring hook sides, or by sides provided with outturned loops 2, as illustrated in Fig. 5. Said Fig. 5 shows a comparatively small flare. If the flare is too small to stop the eye it would be stopped by the loops 2 striking the drop of the eye before the hook head could reach the rear end of the eye sides and escape from them, the distance between the head 8 and loops 2 being in this case made less than the length of eye sides A serious objection to many forms of hooks and eyes is that parts of them are flattened or distorted by the machines the garments are passed through in the laundry. Neither the hook nor tle eye herein set forth is subject to that defect, the several parts of the book being situated in one plane, and the several parts of the eye so situated except for the drop 3, which being at right angles to the main plane and of small extent will not be injured by a wringing or other machine.

Another advantage of the improvement before mentioned is that the drop slightly depresses the fabric to which the eye is attached, and that this and the manner of c011- necting the hook and eye obviates the wearing efi'ect of the hook point. The spread of the sides of the eye and hook insuring a desirable distance between the loops and their points of attachment obviates excessive strain on the threads of the fabric. This spread of the sides of both hook and eye adapts each to be held by its resiliency be tween lugs or lingers in a hook and eye holder such as used in conveying the thread loops of the hooks and eyes under needles in the operation of attaching them to ribbon or card board. The offsets of the loops are removed from any desired path of the hook head 8 so that in cases where desired said head can be passed under the eye from the rear. Obviously this implies a comparatively loose engagement, and is referred to as one of the capacities of the improvement, though ordinarily the hook head will be inserted and engaged otherwise, as set forth.

In Figs. 7 and 8 the flared sides 4 of the hook are bent upwardly at 12 and head 8 is in a plane one diameter of the wire higher than the main body of the hook, the bends being approximately rightangles so that the hook will not be easily distorted. The eye in this instance has downward bends 13 between the side members 4 and loops 2 thus bringing the body of the hook and the eye end 5 and the eye loops into the same plane. ing hook either from the top between members 4, or from the loop end of the eye, said members 4 being flared sufficiently to permit head 8 to enter between the bent portions 13.

The construction provides for both the described methods of engaging the hook and eye and characterizes the invention. When the eye sides are not suiiiciently flared the bends 6 provide an oval space as shown in Figs. 3, 7 and 10, for the direct entry of a head 8 by passing the latter down through said space preparatory to drawing the hook This eye will receive the correspondhead into engagement with the drop 5 in the manner customary with ordinary hooks and eyes. Bends in the eye substantially such as indicated in Figs. 11 and 12 permit the ready introduction of the hook head in case the eyes are attached to stiff goods. It is obvious that in this form the head can be entered one end at a time under a proximate eye-side in the vicinage of the drop 5.

What I claim is,

1. The combination of a hook having flared sides constituting the hook shank, a head connected by a narrow neck to said shank, and an eye having sides 4 joined by a dropped connecting bar 5, said eye sides being separated adjacent said bar a distance less than the length of the head, and said sides being separated and Without obstrncequal to the width of the head of the hook tion beyond their rear ends for a distance equal to the Width of the head of the hook to permit the removal of the book by a vertical movement.

2. The combination of a hook having sides constituting the hook shank and connected to a head 8 between its ends, with an eye having sides 4 joined by a connecting bar 5, said eye sides being separated adjacent said bar a distance less than the length of the head, and separated and without obstruction beyond their rear ends for a distance to permit the removal of the hook by a vertical movement, and stops on the hook to limit the relative parallel movement of the hook and eye to prevent disengagement by such vertical movement.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WVILLIAM M. CORTHELL. l/Vitnesses:

E. ELMO CLARK, C. M. CATLIN. 

